A Summer to Die

It was hard for Meg not to be envious of Molly. Blond, pretty and popular, Molly was the one who always knew what to say, who was giggly and fun, full of smiles and silly enthusiasms. It was Molly who had long eyelashes, while thirteen-year-old Meg had glasses. Molly who developed a figure and boyfriends the same year that Meg got Molly's outgrown winter coat. Molly who was sure about the future, had sorted out her own goals, while Meg, determined and unsure at the same time, was sometimes angry over nothing, often miserable about everything.

Things grew even worse when they had to share a room. That's when Molly drew the chalk line. Right down the rug and up the wall, across the wallpaper with its blue flowers. Separating them.

Then Molly got sick. At first it was just a nuisance. Grouchy, constantly worrying about her looks, never without a box of kleenex because of those dumb nosebleeds. Everyone waited on her hand and foot when she was home and was totally preoccupied with test results when she was in the hospital. Meg didn't know what to make of the changes taking place in Molly and their parents. Until the day she realized that Molly was never going to come home from the hospital. That Molly was going to die.

Lois Lowry has written a poignant and perceptive first novel exploring the complex emotions a young girl faces in dealing with the death of a sister just at the very time when she had begun to ease her sense of jealousy and impatience into love.

"Not simply another story on a subject currently in vogue, this book is memorable as a well-crafted reaffirmation of universal values." -- Horn Book ALA Notable Book, Horn Book Fanfare Selection, IRA/CBC Children's Choice